Verifying authorization to destroy a physical document before destroying the physical document

ABSTRACT

A document processing system allows specifying disposition of a paper document at the time a reservation for the document is created in the document processing system. Quality assurance processing after scanning assures all needed processing is performed for the paper document and the corresponding electronic document. Once the quality assurance processing is complete, the disposition of the paper document is scheduled according to the specified disposition policy for the paper document. When the specified disposition policy for a document indicates the document needs to be destroyed, a user scans the unique identifier on the physical document at a first location, receives verification the document should be destroyed, and places the document in a container for documents to be destroyed. At a second location, a user scans the unique identifier on the document and receives verification the document should be destroyed. The physical document may then be destroyed.

BACKGROUND

1. Technical Field

This disclosure generally relates to processing of documents, and morespecifically relates to disposition of documents after scanning.

2. Background Art

Computer systems have vastly improved the efficiency of many modernworkers by providing ways to quickly and efficiently generate and handleelectronic documents. Many software tools have been developed thatgenerate and/or process electronic documents in various ways, includingword processors, spreadsheets, databases, scanning software, web pagedevelopment systems, content management systems, hypertext markuplanguage (HTML), extensible markup language (XML), etc. It has long beenthe goal of many people in the information processing field to realize a“paperless office”, which means an office where physical paper documentsare completely replaced with electronic documents. One impediment torealizing the goal of a paperless office is the great number ofdifferent types of documents that a typical business receives fromoutside sources that must be processed.

When a paper document is received by a business that is striving torealize the goal of a paperless office, the paper document is typicallyscanned into electronic form. However, in order for the document to bedigitally filed in a structured filing system, the document must haveindexing information added to the scanned document. Examples of indexinginformation include: document type, customer number, contract number,dollar amount, and other suitable metadata that describes the document.The process of manually entering indexing information for each scanneddocument has been a significant bottleneck in the realization of thegoal of a paperless office. For each paper document that is scanned, ahuman operator must scan the document, then manually enter indexinginformation to allow the document processing systems to recognize, storeand retrieve the new document. With a company that receives hundreds orthousands of paper documents each day, this requires a dedication ofsignificant resources to scan the documents and enter the correspondingindex information. Many companies prefer to do business by processingthe papers instead of dedicating the resources to adapt their businesssystems to converting the papers to electronic documents, thenprocessing the electronic documents.

Various systems have been developed to allow a user to more efficientlyenter indexing information for a document. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos.6,192,165 and 6,427,032 owned by ImageTag, Inc. disclose systems inwhich a user creates index information in a record in a database for apaper document before the document is scanned, places a label with aunique identifier on the paper document, then scans the paper document.The system detects the label with the unique identifier in the scannedimage, locates the index record in the database that corresponds to theunique identifier, then stores the scanned document with the indexrecord in the database.

One problem that has not been adequately addressed is disposition of thepaper document after scanning Some companies keep the paper documents inlong-term storage even though the documents are available in electronicform. This practice can be very costly. Many companies that haveinvested in getting their documents into electronic form still do nothave a way to specify disposition for individual documents.

As a result, many paper documents are stored that could be disposed of,increasing the company's total document management costs due to thearchiving of paper documents.

BRIEF SUMMARY

A document processing system allows specifying disposition of a documentat the time a reservation for the document is created in the documentprocessing system. A default disposition policy can be selected, adifferent defined disposition policy can be selected, or a newdisposition policy can be created. Quality assurance processing afterscanning assures all needed processing is performed for the paperdocument and the corresponding electronic document. Once the qualityassurance processing is complete, the disposition of the document isscheduled according to the specified disposition policy for thedocument. When the specified disposition policy for a document indicatesit needs to be destroyed, a user scans the unique identifier on thephysical document at a first location, receives verification thedocument should be destroyed, and places the document in a container fordocuments to be destroyed. At a second location, a user scans the uniqueidentifier on the document and receives verification the document shouldbe destroyed. Once the user at the second location receives verificationthe physical document may be destroyed, the user can then destroy thephysical document.

The foregoing and other features and advantages will be apparent fromthe following more particular description, as illustrated in theaccompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING(S)

The disclosure will be described in conjunction with the appendeddrawings, where like designations denote like elements, and:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a computer system that implements adocument processing system;

FIG. 2 is a flow diagram of a prior art method for handling paperdocuments;

FIG. 3 is a flow diagram of a prior art method for handling both paperand electronic documents;

FIG. 4 is a flow diagram of a prior art method for processing paperdocuments into electronic documents;

FIG. 5 is a block diagram that shows additional details of the documentreservation mechanism 142 shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a first sample document dispositionpolicy;

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing a second sample document dispositionpolicy;

FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing a third sample document dispositionpolicy;

FIG. 9 is a flow diagram of a method for defining and schedulingdisposition of a document;

FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing examples of quality assuranceprocessing;

FIG. 11 is a flow diagram of a method for processing documents thatincludes steps shown in FIG. 9;

FIG. 12 is a sample display showing a document reservation session for adocument showing metadata entered by a user for the document;

FIG. 13 is a sample display showing a document reservation session for adocument that shows how a user can define a disposition policy for thedocument during the reservation session;

FIG. 14 is a table showing two default disposition policies according todocument type;

FIG. 15 is a flow diagram of a method for using the disposition policyfor a paper document when handling the paper document; and

FIG. 16 is a flow diagram of a method for verifying a physical documentshould be destroyed before destroying the physical document.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The claims and disclosure herein provide a document processing systemthat allows specifying disposition of a document at the time areservation for the document is created in the document processingsystem. A default disposition policy can be selected, a differentdefined disposition policy can be selected, or a new disposition policycan be created. Quality assurance processing after scanning assures allneeded processing is performed for the paper document and thecorresponding electronic document. Once the quality assurance processingis complete, the disposition of the document is scheduled according tothe specified disposition policy for the document. When the specifieddisposition policy for a document indicates it needs to be destroyed, auser scans the unique identifier on the physical document at a firstlocation, receives verification the document should be destroyed, andplaces the document in a container for documents to be destroyed. At asecond location, a user scans the unique identifier on the document andreceives verification the document should be destroyed. Once the user atthe second location receives verification the physical document may bedestroyed, the user can then destroy the physical document.

Some background information is now presented to give context that willaid the reader in understanding the discussion below. Referring to FIG.2, a prior art method 200 represents how paper documents have beenhandled in the past in companies who have defined policies for handlingpaper documents. A paper document is received (step 210). The paperdocument is then filed in the appropriate file (step 220). Note the term“appropriate file” in method 200 refers to a paper file folder stored ina filing cabinet or other suitable storage system for paper files. Atsome point the document is determined to be inactive (step 230). Forexample, in a law firm, the paper document can become inactive when afile for a particular matter is closed. The final disposition of thepaper document is determined (step 240). When the final disposition isto shred the document (step 250=SHRED), the document is shredded (step260). When the final disposition of the document is to keep the document(step 250=KEEP), the document is stored in long-term storage (step 270).Many companies, especially law firms, have implemented policies thatkeep inactive documents in long-term storage for a long time. This oftenrequires off-site storage of documents in a warehouse. Needless to say,the expense associated with boxing the document, identifying which filesand documents are in each box, and transporting the boxes of documentsto the warehouse, increase the cost of dealing with the document. Inaddition, the ongoing cost of maintaining the warehouse can becomesignificant. Some companies are also finding that long-term storage ofarchived documents can be undesirable when there is no documentretention policy in place to destroy documents after some defined timeperiod. For example, some companies have retained documents in long-termstorage that contain information that can be damaging to the company ifthe company is ever sued. As a result, many companies have made effortsto more actively manage their document retention and destructionprocesses.

Referring to FIG. 3, a prior art method 300 shows how the process ofmanaging documents is complicated when both paper documents andelectronic documents must be managed. A paper document is received (step310). The paper document is scanned to create an electronic document(step 320). The electronic document is then stored (step 330) and thepaper document is filed in the appropriate paper file (step 340). At anappropriate point in time, a final disposition of the paper document isdetermined (step 360). When the final disposition of the paper documentis to shred the paper document (step 362=SHRED), the paper document isshredded (step 364). When the final disposition of the paper document isto keep the document (step 362=KEEP), the paper document is stored inlong-term storage (step 366). Note there may be other final dispositionsof the paper document not shown in FIG. 3, such as to mail the paperdocument to the client. The final disposition of the electronic documentis also determined (step 370). When the final disposition of theelectronic document is to purge the electronic document (step374=PURGE), the electronic document is purged (step 374), which meansthe electronic document is deleted. This may also include deleting anybackups of the electronic document so the electronic document isliterally gone and cannot be recovered later. When the final dispositionof the electronic document is to keep the electronic document (step372=KEEP), the electronic document is stored in a suitable documentarchive for electronic documents (step 376). Note the suitable documentarchive could be the same location where the electronic document wasoriginally stored, or can be a different location.

FIG. 3 makes it clear that when a company scans documents, it mustseparately manage the paper and the electronic documents. The finaldisposition of the paper document may be different than the finaldisposition of the electronic document. A company who manages both paperand electronic documents typically has separate processes that managedisposition of the paper and electronic documents. These processes arenot integrated into the process for creating the electronic document. Inaddition, the processes often must accommodate different personalities.For example, a senior lawyer at a law firm may mandate that all of thepaper and electronic documents for his files is kept for a minimum of 20years, even though the law firm policy is to destroy both paper andelectronic documents 5 years after a file is closed. Companies are thusfaces with trying to integrate various manual processes andcomputer-based processes in a way that accommodates a wide range ofdocument disposition preferences. What is needed is a more uniform wayto specify and manage document disposition.

As discussed above in the Background section, ImageTag, Inc. developedsystems that allow a user to create index information in a record in adatabase for a paper document before the paper document is scanned,place a label with a unique identifier on the paper document, then scanthe paper document. The system detects the label with the uniqueidentifier, locates the index record in the database that corresponds tothe unique identifier on the label, then stores the scanned documentwith the index record in the database. Method 400 in FIG. 4 isrepresentative of a method performed by a product known as KwikTagmarketed by ImageTag, Inc. A paper document is received (step 410). Areservation for the document is created (step 420). A reservation iscreated typically by invoking the KwikTag software to perform a “taggingsession”. During the tagging session, the user specifies metadata forthe document, including the globally unique identifier on the next labelin the user's label dispenser (step 430). The user then applies thecorresponding label with the globally unique identifier to the document(step 440). In the most preferred implementation, the user applies thecorresponding label to the paper document by placing an adhesive labelon the first page of the document. In an alternative implementation, theuser applies the corresponding label to the paper document by printing acover sheet with the label. At some later point in time, the document isscanned (step 450), which creates one or more images that represent thescanned document. For the discussion herein, the “scanned image”includes all of the pages in the document for a multi-page document. Thelabel on the document is read (step 460). The globally unique identifieron the label is extracted from the label (step 470). The document imageis then linked with the reservation corresponding to the globally uniqueidentifier (step 480). Note the reservation was created and correlatedto the globally unique identifier during the previous tagging session.The document image is then stored in the image database (step 490). Themetadata entered by the user when the reservation was created may bestored in a database separate from the document image, or may be storedas part of the document image file. The metadata entered by the user inFIG. 4 all relates to the electronic document that will exist once thepaper document is scanned. None of the metadata entered by the user inFIG. 4 relates to disposition of the paper document.

Referring to FIG. 1, computer system 100 is one suitable implementationof a computer system that could implement the document processing systemdisclosed and claimed herein. Computer system 100 could be any suitableserver system, such as an IBM eServer System i computer system. However,those skilled in the art will appreciate that the disclosure hereinapplies equally to any computer system, regardless of whether thecomputer system is a complicated multi-user computing apparatus, asingle user workstation, or an embedded control system. As shown in FIG.1, computer system 100 comprises one or more processors 110, a mainmemory 120, a mass storage interface 130, a display interface 140, and anetwork interface 150. These system components are interconnectedthrough the use of a system bus 160. Mass storage interface 130 is usedto connect mass storage devices, such as a disk drive 155, to computersystem 100. One specific type of disk drive 155 is a readable andwritable CD-RW drive, which may store data to and read data from a CD-RW195. CD-RW 195 is one suitable example of non-transitory computerreadable media.

Main memory 120 preferably contains data 121, an operating system 122,one or more scanned document folders 130, and a document processingsystem 140. Data 121 represents any data that serves as input to oroutput from any program in computer system 100. Operating system 122 isa multitasking operating system. Scanned document folder(s) 130represent one or more folders accessible via a network connection thatare the destination for documents scanned by the digitalcopier/scanners, and that need to be processed by the documentprocessing system 140. While scanned document folder(s) are shown aspart of computer system 100 in FIG. 1, one or more scanned documentfolders could alternatively or in addition reside on a separate computersystem on a network, such as a computer system 175 residing on network170. The document processing system 140 includes a document reservationsystem 142, a document disposition mechanism 144, and a qualityassurance mechanism 146. The document reservation mechanism 142 allows auser to enter metadata that is used to describe a document that needs tobe scanned. A unique identifier corresponding to a label is alsoentered, which creates a “reservation” in the document processingsystem. In other words, the metadata that describes the scanned documentis entered before the document is scanned. The unique identifier on thelabel allows the scanned document to be later correlated to thereservation for that unique identifier. This allows the metadata for thescanned document that was entered earlier to be automatically associatedwith the scanned document based on the unique identifier that wasentered as part of the metadata for the document during the documentreservation session.

The document disposition mechanism 144 allows a user to specify adisposition policy for a paper document. The document dispositionmechanism 144 can also provide a prompt to a user when a document needsto be disposed of. The document disposition mechanism can handlespecifying disposition of paper documents as well as disposition ofelectronic documents. However, in some implementations, the documentdisposition mechanism 144 will be responsible for specifying dispositionof paper documents, while specifying disposition of electronic documentsis left to other processes or systems. The quality assurance mechanism146 allows performing any needed quality assurance function with respectto the paper document and/or electronic document. For example, one suchquality assurance function is to allow a user to verify a scanneddocument accurately reflects the paper document before the document isdisposed of according to the disposition policy. The mechanisms 142, 144and 146 in the document processing system 140 are discussed in moredetail below with respect to FIGS. 5-13.

Computer system 100 utilizes well known virtual addressing mechanismsthat allow the programs of computer system 100 to behave as if they onlyhave access to a large, single storage entity instead of access tomultiple, smaller storage entities such as main memory 120 and diskdrive 155. Therefore, while data 121, operating system 122, scanneddocument folder(s) 130, and document processing system 140 are shown toreside in main memory 120, those skilled in the art will recognize thatthese items are not necessarily all completely contained in main memory120 at the same time. It should also be noted that the term “memory” isused herein generically to refer to the entire virtual memory ofcomputer system 100, and may include the virtual memory of othercomputer systems coupled to computer system 100. In addition, computersystem 100 could include one or more virtual machines, with the documentprocessing system 140 running on one of the virtual machines.

Processor 110 may be constructed from one or more microprocessors and/orintegrated circuits. Processor 110 executes program instructions storedin main memory 120. Main memory 120 stores programs and data thatprocessor 110 may access. When computer system 100 starts up, processor110 initially executes the program instructions that make up operatingsystem 122.

Although computer system 100 is shown to contain only a single processorand a single system bus, those skilled in the art will appreciate that adocument processing system as disclosed and claimed herein may bepracticed using a computer system that has multiple processors and/ormultiple buses. In addition, the interfaces that are used preferablyeach include separate, fully programmed microprocessors that are used tooff-load compute-intensive processing from processor 110. However, thoseskilled in the art will appreciate that these functions may be performedusing I/O adapters as well.

Display interface 140 is used to directly connect one or more displays165 to computer system 100. These displays 165, which may benon-intelligent (i.e., dumb) terminals or fully programmableworkstations, are used to provide system administrators and users theability to communicate with computer system 100. Note, however, thatwhile display interface 140 is provided to support communication withone or more displays 165, computer system 100 does not necessarilyrequire a display 165, because all needed interaction with users andother processes may occur via network interface 150.

Network interface 150 is used to connect computer system 100 to othercomputer systems or workstations 175 via network 170. Network interface150 broadly represents any suitable way to interconnect electronicdevices, regardless of whether the network 170 comprises present-dayanalog and/or digital techniques or via some networking mechanism of thefuture. Network interface 150 preferably includes a combination ofhardware and software that allow communicating on the network 170.Software in the network interface 150 preferably includes acommunication manager that manages communication with other computersystems or other network devices 175 via network 170 using a suitablenetwork protocol. Many different network protocols can be used toimplement a network. These protocols are specialized computer programsthat allow computers to communicate across a network. TCP/IP(Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol) is an example of asuitable network protocol that may be used by the communication managerwithin the network interface 150.

As will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, aspects of thedisclosed document processing system may be embodied as a system, methodor computer program product. Accordingly, aspects of the documentprocessing system may take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment,an entirely software embodiment (including firmware, resident software,micro-code, etc.) or an embodiment combining software and hardwareaspects that may all generally be referred to herein as a “circuit,”“module” or “system.”Furthermore, aspects of the document processingsystem may take the form of a computer program product embodied in oneor more computer readable medium(s) having computer readable programcode embodied thereon.

Any combination of one or more computer readable medium(s) may beutilized. The computer readable medium may be a computer readable signalmedium or a non-transitory computer readable storage medium. Anon-transitory computer readable storage medium may be, for example, butnot limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic,infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, or device, or any suitablecombination of the foregoing. More specific examples (a non-exhaustivelist) of the computer readable storage medium would include thefollowing: an electrical connection having one or more wires, a portablecomputer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), aread-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROMor Flash memory), an optical fiber, a portable compact disc read-onlymemory (CD-ROM), an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device,or any suitable combination of the foregoing. In the context of thisdocument, a computer readable storage medium may be any tangible mediumthat can contain, or store a program for use by or in connection with aninstruction execution system, apparatus, or device.

Program code embodied on a computer readable medium may be transmittedusing any appropriate medium, including but not limited to wireless,wireline, optical fiber cable, RF, etc., or any suitable combination ofthe foregoing.

Computer program code for carrying out operations for aspects of thedocument processing system may be written in any combination of one ormore programming languages, including an object oriented programminglanguage such as Java, Smalltalk, C++ or the like and conventionalprocedural programming languages, such as the “C” programming languageor similar programming languages. The program code may execute entirelyon the user's computer, partly on the user's computer, as a stand-alonesoftware package, partly on the user's computer and partly on a remotecomputer or entirely on the remote computer or server. In the latterscenario, the remote computer may be connected to the user's computerthrough any type of network, including a local area network (LAN) or awide area network (WAN), or the connection may be made to an externalcomputer (for example, through the Internet using an Internet ServiceProvider).

Aspects of the document processing system are described herein withreference to flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods,apparatus (systems) and computer program products. It will be understoodthat each block of the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams,and combinations of blocks in the flowchart illustrations and/or blockdiagrams, can be implemented by computer program instructions. Thesecomputer program instructions may be provided to a processor of ageneral purpose computer, special purpose computer, or otherprogrammable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such thatthe instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer orother programmable data processing apparatus, create means forimplementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or blockdiagram block or blocks.

These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computerreadable medium that can direct a computer, other programmable dataprocessing apparatus, or other devices to function in a particularmanner, such that the instructions stored in the computer readablemedium produce an article of manufacture including instructions whichimplement the function/act specified in the flowchart and/or blockdiagram block or blocks.

The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer,other programmable data processing apparatus, or other devices to causea series of operational steps to be performed on the computer, otherprogrammable apparatus or other devices to produce a computerimplemented process such that the instructions which execute on thecomputer or other programmable apparatus provide processes forimplementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or blockdiagram block or blocks.

The disclosure and claims herein improve on the prior art method 400shown in FIG. 4 by allowing the user to specify a disposition policy forthe paper document during the tagging session, and to also optionallyspecify a disposition policy for the corresponding electronic documentduring the tagging session as well. Referring to FIG. 5, the documentreservation mechanism 142 in FIG. 1 is shown to include a metadatadescription mechanism 510 and one or more document disposition policies520. The document disposition policies 520 may include a defaultdocument disposition policy 530 as well as one or more other documentdisposition policies 540. Note the document disposition policies 520could also include multiple default disposition policies according todocument type. Thus, tax returns could have a default dispositionpolicy, while wills have a different default disposition policy. Ofcourse, a user can always define a new document disposition policy ifnone of the existing document disposition policies will do. The documentdisposition policies include disposition policies relating to physicalpaper documents, and can optionally also include disposition policiesrelating to the corresponding electronic documents.

Examples of suitable document disposition policies are shown in FIGS.6-8. The Sample1 Document Disposition Policy in FIG. 6 specifies toshred the paper document immediately and purge the electronic documentfive years after the file is closed. The Sample2 Document DispositionPolicy in FIG. 7 specifies to keep the paper document forever and retainthe electronic document forever. The Sample3 Document Disposition Policyin FIG. 8 specifies to shred the paper document after 6 months. Note thetwo sample document disposition policies in FIGS. 6 and 7 specifydisposition of both the paper document as well as the electronicdocument, while the sample document disposition policy in FIG. 8 onlyspecifies disposition of the paper document. The document processingsystem disclosed and claimed herein may work in conjunction with anysuitable document management software or process, whether computer-basedor manual, that can separately determine disposition of electronicdocuments. For example, software or a manual process that is separatefrom the document processing system disclosed herein could determinewhen and how to dispose of electronic documents. This allowscoordination between disposition of paper documents and disposition ofthe corresponding electronic documents. The document disposition policydisclosed herein extends to specifying disposition of the paperdocument, and also optionally specifying disposition of the electronicdocument.

It is also within the scope of the disclosure and claims herein for thedocument processing system 140 to pass document disposition informationto a different process or program. Thus, for the example in FIG. 6 thatspecifies to purge the electronic document 5 years after the file isclosed, the document processing system 140 could notify any suitabledocument management software or process of the need to purge theelectronic document 5 years after the file is closed. By passingdocument disposition information to existing external processes orsoftware, the document processing system 140 can be integrated into alarge number of different systems and configurations.

Note the term “disposition” of a document means what is ultimately donewith the document, and does not necessarily mean the document is“disposed of” in the sense of being destroyed. As shown in FIG. 7,disposition of a paper document may include keeping the paper document,and disposition of an electronic document may include retaining theelectronic document. Note also that “document retention” and “documentdestruction” may often be thought of as different sides of the samecoin. Thus, when a company has a document retention policy, the policytypically specifies time periods for retaining documents, after whichthe documents may be destroyed. Thus, a document retention policy canalso inherently be a document destruction policy. For the example givenin FIG. 6, the document disposition policy specifies to shred the paperdocument immediately, which implies no retention of the paper document.Similarly, the document disposition policy in FIG. 6 specifies to purgethe electronic document five years after the file is closed, which meansto retain the electronic document for five years, after which theelectronic document can be purged. The disclosure and claims hereinextend to any suitable document disposition policy however expressed,whether currently known or developed in the future. For example,disposition of a paper document could include other options besideskeeping and shredding, such as sending the paper document to the client.

Referring to FIG. 9, a method 900 shows steps that are not currentlyperformed in prior art method 400 shown in FIG. 4 that are performed bythe document processing system 140 in FIG. 1. A document dispositionpolicy is specified in the reservation for the paper document (step910). Once the document is scanned, any needed quality assuranceprocessing for the scanned image of the document is performed (step920). Quality assurance (QA) processing can include any suitableprocessing that could be needed. Examples of quality assuranceprocessing are shown in FIG. 10 to include assure the scanned imageexists and is accurate 1010; verify completeness and accuracy of themetadata for the scanned document 1020; verify the scanned document iswritten to the document management system 1030; verify any neededworkflows are triggered 1040; and build an audit trail 1050. Assuringthe scanned image exists and is accurate 1010 may include any suitablesteps or functions, such as scanning the label on the document with abar code reader, which provides access to both the metadata for thedocument as well as the scanned image for the document, assuming thedocument has already been scanned. This allows a quality assurance userto use existing barcode scanners that are already used for managingpaper documents. Assuring the scanned image exists and is accurate 1010can include the steps of checking to make sure the document image hasbeen captured, making sure the image quality is good, and making sureall pages got scanned. A simple example will illustrate. Let's assumepage 2 of the scanned document is upside down, page 3 of the document ismissing, and page 4 of the document has part of the text cut off. Ahuman user will inspect the scanned document and notice these issuesfrom a comparison with the paper document (step 930=NO) and takecorrective action (step 940). For the simple example above, thecorrective action could be rotating page 2 180 degrees, re-scanningpages 3 and 4 of the document, then inserting the re-scanned pages 3 and4 into the document in the place of pages 3 and 4. Once the correctiveaction is taken, step 930 will determine whether QA processing iscomplete (step 930). If not (step 930=NO), more corrective action can betaken (step 940). Once all QA processing is complete (step 930=YES), thedisposition of the paper document is scheduled according to thespecified disposition policy (step 950).

Verifying completeness and accuracy of the metadata for the scanneddocument 1020 can include making sure all needed fields are filled out,and making sure the entries in those fields are accurate. Note thesefields preferably include all the metadata fields that were available tothe user during the tagging session, and may also include other fieldsas well. Verifying the scanned document is written to the documentmanagement system 1030 can include making sure the electronic documentis written to the appropriate location in a separate document managementsystem so the document management system can manage the electronicdocument. Verifying any needed workflows are triggered 1040 can includemaking sure that any needed processes relating to the document, bothmanual and computer-based, are initiated. An example of a neededworkflow is to send an e-mail to a user notifying the user of somethingrelating to the processing of the document. Building an audit trail 1050involves tracking each operation performed on a document and whoperformed that operation so the audit trail includes a complete historyof actions taken with respect to the document and the people who tookthose actions. The audit trail ensures process integrity controls andreports are in place before disposition of the physical document occurs.The specific examples of quality assurance processing shown in FIG. 10are shown by way of example, and are not limiting. The disclosure andclaims herein expressly extend to any quality assurance processing, bothmanual and computer-based, that needs to be performed as a result ofprocessing the paper document, the electronic document, or both.

FIG. 11 shows a flow diagram of a method 1100 in accordance with thedisclosure and claims herein that is one suitable implementation thatincludes steps shown in method 900 shown in FIG. 9. Note that steps 410,420, 430, 440, 450, 460, 470, 480 and 490 in method 1100 in FIG. 11 arethe same numbered steps as in prior art method 400 in FIG. 4. However,additional steps 910, 1110 and 950 have been added. Step 910 allows theuser to specify a disposition policy for the document in the reservationfor the document, as shown in step 910 in FIG. 9. Step 950 schedulesdisposition of the paper document according to the specified dispositionpolicy, as shown in step 950 in FIG. 9. Step 1110 assures QA processingfor the scanned image is complete, such as the processing shown in steps920, 930 and 940 in FIG. 9. Method 1100 thus allows a user to define adisposition policy for a document during a tagging session, and once anyappropriate quality assurance processing is performed, the dispositionof the document can be scheduled.

A simple example is now given in FIGS. 12 and 13 that illustrates howdisposition of a document could be specified during a tagging session inthe document reservation system. FIG. 12 shows a display window 1200that represents a tab “Profile Document” in the document reservationsystem. For this specific example, the user can enter a client number, aclient, a matter number, a document type, an author, notes, and a date.The user can also specify the label number. Note the label number willnormally not have to be modified by the user, because the labels arenumbered sequentially, which means the document reservation mechanismwill automatically fill in the number of the next label in the LabelNumber field. Or course, if the user needs to change the label number,such as if a label is damaged, the user can enter the correct labelnumber. In addition, some documents, such as tax forms, may not haveenough room for a label. In this case a cover sheet may be printed withthe barcoded label instead of placing an adhesive label on the documentitself. When this is the case, the user can select the “Print CoverSheet” option shown in FIG. 12. The disclosure and claims herein applyregardless of whether an adhesive label or cover sheet is used. Thus,applying a label to the document can include either applying an adhesivelabel to the document or printing a label to a coversheet for thedocument.

The fields in FIG. 12 represent metadata that describes a document. Inthe most preferred implementation, the user defines this metadata beforethe document is scanned. Of course, it is equally within the scope ofthe disclosure and claims herein to create a reservation that includesno metadata or less than all the desired metadata, as long as the labelnumber is identified. The user could then go back and enter the desiredmetadata at a later time, even after the document is scanned. Once theuser has entered all the metadata the user desires to define in thedocument reservation system, the user clicks on the OK button, whichcauses a reservation to be created with the specified metadata,including the label number. This reservation can then be matched laterto the document image after the document is scanned and the label numberon the label is extracted from the scanned image of the document.

In addition to specifying metadata for the document in the window 1200shown in FIG. 12, the user can also specify a disposition policy for thepaper document, and can optionally also define a disposition policy forthe electronic document, as shown in window 1300 in FIG. 13. Note theavailable disposition policies for the paper document include a defaultdisposition policy that can be selected by the user. Note also thatdifferent default disposition policies could be specified for differentdocument types, as shown in FIG. 14. Thus, a tax return could have adefault disposition policy of shredding after five years, while a willcould have a default disposition policy of keeping the paper documentforever. Window 1300 could include one or more drop-down lists thatinclude several different defined disposition policies that could beselected by the user. In addition, the user could define a newdisposition policy for the document if none of the defined dispositionpolicies will do. Once the user specifies the applicable dispositionpolicy for the document, the user selects the OK button, which causesthe disposition policy to be added as metadata to the documentreservation. In this manner the disposition policy for a document can bespecified at the time a reservation for the document is created. Thisdisposition policy can then be used to determine disposition of thedocument once all required QA processing is complete.

While the metadata related to document disposition shown in FIG. 13 ismetadata stored before the paper document is scanned, this metadatadiffers from the metadata that profiles the document to be scanned, asshown in FIG. 12. The metadata in FIG. 12 relates to the electronicversion of the document to be scanned. The metadata in FIG. 13, incontrast, relates to disposition of the paper document, and canoptionally also relate to disposition of the electronic document aswell. No known prior art systems allow specifying metadata that relatesto disposition of the paper document before the paper document is evenscanned.

Referring to FIG. 15, a method 1500 shows how the document dispositionpolicy can be used when handling the paper document. The documentidentifier on the paper document is scanned (step 1510). The identifiercan be on a label on the document itself, or on a cover sheet for thedocument. The identifier may be scanned, for example, using any suitablemachine-readable reader, such as a bar code scanner. The dispositionpolicy for the paper document is retrieved (step 1520). When thedisposition policy indicates the document can be shredded now (step1530=YES), the user is prompted “OK to Shred” (step 1540). For example,the disposition policy may indicate the document can be shredded now(step 1530=YES) once the document has been scanned and all neededquality assurance processing has been completed. When the dispositionpolicy does not allow for shredding the document now (step 1530=NO), theuser is prompted “Store in Location X” (step 1550). Note method 1500 maybe performed some time after the initial quality assurance processing insteps 920, 930 and 940 in FIG. 9, which are also represented in step1110 in FIG. 11. Thus, the disposition policy can also be used at theback end of the process to make sure a document can be shredded beforeit is actually shredded. A simple example will illustrate. Let's assumethe document processing system has identified many documents forshredding, and these documents are all placed in one or more boxes. As afinal check, the user could scan the label on the document just beforeputting the document into the shredder. If the document should beshredded, the user will receive the “OK to Shred” message. If not, theuser will get a different message, indicating the document should not beshredded. The disposition policy thus allows for a final back-end checkbefore a paper document is shredded.

Many executives and managers understandably get very nervous aboutdestroying physical documents. The document disposition mechanism allowsa check and double-check before destroying a physical document.Referring to FIG. 16, a method 1600 is preferably performed by thedocument disposition mechanism 144 in FIG. 1, and begins by providingnotification when a physical document should be destroyed (step 1610).This notification could happen, for example, to a user in a file roomwhere files are stored. This notification could be the result of thedocument disposition mechanism monitoring the document dispositionpolicies for many documents, and providing the notification when thedocument disposition policy for a document is satisfied, indicating thephysical document needs to be destroyed. The user then retrieves thedocument and scans the unique identifier on the document (step 1620).When the document disposition policy does not allow destroying thedocument (step 1630=NO), the user is prompted to keep (i.e., notdestroy) the document (step 1632). Step 1630 is the first check in thedouble check process for verifying documents should be destroyed. Whenthe document disposition policy is satisfied so the document should bedestroyed (step 1630=YES), the user that scanned the document in step1620 is prompted with a message that indicates the physical document maybe destroyed (step 1640). The physical document is then sent to adestruction station or facility (step 1650). This can be done, forexample, by placing the physical document in a container for documentsto be destroyed, then transporting the container to the destructionstation or facility. Some companies perform document destructionin-house, some have off-site document destruction facilities, and someuse third party contractors to perform document destruction. With all ofthese, there are typically special containers that are designated fordocument destruction. In the prior art, once documents are placed in thecontainers designated for document destruction, the documents are thendestroyed. Method 1600, however, provides a second check at thedestruction station or facility to make sure the physical documentshould be destroyed before destroying the physical document. A user atthe destruction station or facility scans the unique identifier on thephysical document (step 1660). A check is made to assure the documentdisposition policy for the document is satisfied, which allows fordestroying the physical document. When the document disposition policyis not satisfied, indicating the physical document should not bedestroyed (step 1670=NO), the physical document is returned (step 1672).When the document disposition policy is satisfied, indicating thephysical document should be destroyed (step 1670=YES), the user isprompted that the physical document can be destroyed (step 1680). Theuser then destroys the physical document (step 1690) in any suitableway, including shredding, incineration, or any other suitable way todestroy documents, whether currently known or developed in the future.Providing the double-check before destroying documents gives executiveand managers another level of assurance that only documents that shouldbe destroyed are actually destroyed.

The figures and specification discussed above thus support an apparatuscomprising at least one processor; a memory coupled to the at least oneprocessor; a document processing system residing in the memory andexecuted by the at least one processor, the document processing systemcomprising: a document disposition mechanism that provides anotification when a physical document should be destroyed, receives afirst scan of a unique identifier on the document at a first locationand provides first verification at the first location the documentshould be destroyed, receives a second scan of the unique identifier onthe document at a second location, and provides second verification atthe second location the document should be destroyed.

The figures and specification discussed above additionally support acomputer-implemented method executed by at least one processor forverifying physical documents should be destroyed, the method comprising:scheduling disposition of a physical document according to a specifieddisposition policy for the physical document; providing a notificationwhen the physical document should be destroyed according to thespecified disposition policy for the physical document; in response tothe notification, retrieving the physical document to a first location;performing a first scan in the first location of a unique identifier onthe label on the physical document; in response to the first scan,providing a first prompt at the first location that verifies thephysical document should be destroyed; in response to the first prompt,placing the physical document in a container of documents to bedestroyed; scanning in a second location the unique identifier on thelabel on the physical document; and in response to the second scan,providing a second prompt at the second location that verifies thephysical document should be destroyed.

The figures and specification discussed above further support acomputer-implemented method executed by at least one processor forverifying physical documents should be destroyed, the method comprising:creating a reservation for a physical document; specifying in thereservation for the physical document metadata corresponding to thephysical document, where the metadata includes a unique identifier of alabel that is applied to the physical document and further includes adisposition policy for the physical document; applying the label to thephysical document; scanning the physical document to generate anelectronic document corresponding to the physical document; reading theunique identifier of the label in the electronic document; linking theelectronic document with the reservation for the physical document basedon the unique identifier of the label; storing the electronic documentin a database; scheduling disposition of the physical document accordingto the disposition policy for the physical document that was specifiedby the user during the reservation session for the physical document;providing a notification when the physical document should be destroyed;in response to the notification, retrieving the physical document to afirst location; scanning in the first location the unique identifier onthe label on the physical document; in response to the first scan,providing a first prompt at the first location that verifies thephysical document should be destroyed; scanning in a second location theunique identifier on the label on the physical document; and in responseto the second scan, providing a second prompt at the second locationthat verifies the physical document should be destroyed.

The figures and specification discussed above also support acomputer-implemented method executed by at least one processor forverifying physical documents should be destroyed, the method comprising:creating a reservation for a physical document; specifying in thereservation for the physical document metadata corresponding to thephysical document, where the metadata includes a unique identifier of alabel that is applied to the physical document and further includes adisposition policy for the physical document; applying the label to thephysical document; scanning the physical document to generate theelectronic document; reading the unique identifier of the label in theelectronic document; linking the electronic document with thereservation for the physical document based on the unique identifier ofthe label; performing quality assurance processing related to theelectronic document after the physical document has been scanned toproduce the electronic document, wherein the quality assuranceprocessing comprises: comparing the electronic document to the physicaldocument to assure the electronic document accurately represents thephysical document; verifying completeness and accuracy of the metadatacorresponding to the physical document; verifying the electronicdocument is written to a document management system; verifying anyneeded workflows associated with the physical document and theelectronic document are triggered; building an audit trail for thephysical document; and taking corrective action if any of the qualityassurance processing indicates corrective action is needed; storing theelectronic document in a database; scheduling disposition of thephysical document according to the disposition policy for the physicaldocument that was specified by the user during the reservation sessionfor the physical document; providing a notification when the dispositionpolicy for the physical document is satisfied indicating the physicaldocument should be destroyed; in response to the notification,retrieving the physical document to a first location; scanning in thefirst location the unique identifier on the label on the physicaldocument; in response to the first scan, providing a first prompt at thefirst location that verifies the physical document should be destroyed;scanning in a second location the unique identifier on the label on thephysical document; and in response to the second scan, providing asecond prompt at the second location that verifies the physical documentshould be destroyed.

In the discussion herein, the terms “scanned document” and “electronicdocument” are used interchangeably to refer to an electronic file thatcontains images of the paper document, while the term “paper document”is used herein to refer to the hard copy document in paper form. Thediscussion herein uses paper documents as one suitable example ofphysical documents. Note, however, that physical documents can includeany physical embodiment of a document, including paper, recordablemedia, optical media, integrated circuits, or any other physical form ofa document. The disclosure and claims herein expressly extend toverifying any physical form of a document, whether currently known ordeveloped in the future, should be destroyed.

A document processing system allows specifying disposition of a documentat the time a reservation for the document is created in the documentprocessing system. A default disposition policy can be selected, adifferent defined disposition policy can be selected, or a newdisposition policy can be created. Quality assurance processing afterscanning assures all needed processing is performed for the paperdocument and the corresponding electronic document. Once the qualityassurance processing is complete, the disposition of the document isscheduled according to the specified disposition policy for thedocument. When the specified disposition policy for a document indicatesit needs to be destroyed, a user scans the unique identifier on thephysical document at a first location, receives verification thedocument should be destroyed, and places the document in a container fordocuments to be destroyed. At a second location, a user scans the uniqueidentifier on the document and receives verification the document shouldbe destroyed. Once the user at the second location receives verificationthe physical document may be destroyed, the user can then destroy thephysical document.

One skilled in the art will appreciate that many variations are possiblewithin the scope of the claims. Thus, while the disclosure isparticularly shown and described above, it will be understood by thoseskilled in the art that these and other changes in form and details maybe made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of theclaims.

1. An apparatus comprising: at least one processor; a memory coupled tothe at least one processor; a document processing system residing in thememory and executed by the at least one processor, the documentprocessing system comprising: a document disposition mechanism thatprovides a notification when a physical document should be destroyed,receives a first scan of a unique identifier on the document at a firstlocation and provides first verification at the first location thedocument should be destroyed, receives a second scan of the uniqueidentifier on the document at a second location, and provides secondverification at the second location the document should be destroyed. 2.The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the document processing mechanismfurther comprises: a document reservation mechanism that allows a userof the document processing system to define metadata corresponding tothe physical document during a reservation session for the physicaldocument, where the metadata includes the unique identifier of a labelthat is applied to the physical document and further includes thedisposition policy for the physical document.
 3. The apparatus of claim2 wherein the document disposition mechanism provides the notificationwhen the physical document should be destroyed when the dispositionpolicy for the physical document that was specified by the user duringthe reservation session for the physical document is satisfied.
 4. Theapparatus of claim 3 wherein the disposition policy comprises a defaultdisposition policy.
 5. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein the dispositionpolicy comprises one of multiple default disposition policies that eachcorrespond to a defined document type.
 6. A computer-implemented methodexecuted by at least one processor for verifying physical documentsshould be destroyed, the method comprising: scheduling disposition of aphysical document according to a specified disposition policy for thephysical document; providing a notification when the physical documentshould be destroyed according to the specified disposition policy forthe physical document; in response to the notification, retrieving thephysical document to a first location; performing a first scan in thefirst location of a unique identifier on the label on the physicaldocument; in response to the first scan, providing a first prompt at thefirst location that verifies the physical document should be destroyed;in response to the first prompt, placing the physical document in acontainer of documents to be destroyed; scanning in a second locationthe unique identifier on the label on the physical document; and inresponse to the second scan, providing a second prompt at the secondlocation that verifies the physical document should be destroyed.
 7. Themethod of claim 6 further comprising the step of destroying the physicaldocument.
 8. The method of claim 6 wherein the specified dispositionpolicy for the physical document is specified in metadata by a userduring a reservation session for the physical document.
 9. The method ofclaim 6 further comprising: allowing a user to define metadatacorresponding to the physical document during a reservation session forthe physical document, where the metadata includes the unique identifierof a label that is applied to the physical document and further includesthe specified disposition policy for the physical document.
 10. Themethod of claim 6 wherein the notification when the physical documentshould be destroyed is provided according to the specified dispositionpolicy for the physical document that was specified by the user duringthe reservation session for the physical document.
 11. The method ofclaim 6 wherein the specified disposition policy comprises a defaultdisposition policy.
 12. The method of claim 6 wherein the specifieddisposition policy comprises one of multiple default dispositionpolicies that each correspond to a defined document type.
 13. The methodof claim 6 wherein after the first scan the physical document is placedin a container of documents to be destroyed that is transported to thesecond location.
 14. The method of claim 13 wherein the second scan isperformed by a person who retrieves the physical document from thecontainer of documents to be destroyed to verify the document should bedestroyed before destroying the document at the second location.
 15. Themethod of claim 6 further comprising: creating a reservation for thephysical document; specifying in the reservation for the physicaldocument metadata corresponding to the physical document, where themetadata includes a unique identifier of a label that is applied to thephysical document and further includes the specified disposition policyfor the physical document; applying the label to the physical document;scanning the physical document to generate an electronic documentcorresponding to the physical document; reading the unique identifier ofthe label in the electronic document; linking the electronic documentwith the reservation for the physical document based on the uniqueidentifier of the label; and storing the electronic document in adatabase.
 16. A computer-implemented method executed by at least oneprocessor for verifying physical documents should be destroyed, themethod comprising: creating a reservation for a physical document;specifying in the reservation for the physical document metadatacorresponding to the physical document, where the metadata includes aunique identifier of a label that is applied to the physical documentand further includes a disposition policy for the physical document;applying the label to the physical document; scanning the physicaldocument to generate an electronic document corresponding to thephysical document; reading the unique identifier of the label in theelectronic document; linking the electronic document with thereservation for the physical document based on the unique identifier ofthe label; storing the electronic document in a database; schedulingdisposition of the physical document according to the disposition policyfor the physical document that was specified by the user during thereservation session for the physical document; providing a notificationwhen the physical document should be destroyed; in response to thenotification, retrieving the physical document to a first location;scanning in the first location the unique identifier on the label on thephysical document; in response to the first scan, providing a firstprompt at the first location that verifies the physical document shouldbe destroyed; scanning in a second location the unique identifier on thelabel on the physical document; and in response to the second scan,providing a second prompt at the second location that verifies thephysical document should be destroyed.
 17. The method of claim 16wherein after the first scan the physical document is placed in acontainer of documents to be destroyed that is transported to the secondlocation.
 18. The method of claim 17 wherein the second scan isperformed by a person who retrieves the physical document from thecontainer of documents to be destroyed to verify the document should bedestroyed before destroying the document at the second location.
 19. Acomputer-implemented method executed by at least one processor forverifying physical documents should be destroyed, the method comprising:creating a reservation for a physical document; specifying in thereservation for the physical document metadata corresponding to thephysical document, where the metadata includes a unique identifier of alabel that is applied to the physical document and further includes adisposition policy for the physical document; applying the label to thephysical document; scanning the physical document to generate theelectronic document; reading the unique identifier of the label in theelectronic document; linking the electronic document with thereservation for the physical document based on the unique identifier ofthe label; performing quality assurance processing related to theelectronic document after the physical document has been scanned toproduce the electronic document, wherein the quality assuranceprocessing comprises: comparing the electronic document to the physicaldocument to assure the electronic document accurately represents thephysical document; verifying completeness and accuracy of the metadatacorresponding to the physical document; verifying the electronicdocument is written to a document management system; verifying anyneeded workflows associated with the physical document and theelectronic document are triggered; building an audit trail for thephysical document; and taking corrective action if any of the qualityassurance processing indicates corrective action is needed; storing theelectronic document in a database; scheduling disposition of thephysical document according to the disposition policy for the physicaldocument that was specified by the user during the reservation sessionfor the physical document; providing a notification when the dispositionpolicy for the physical document is satisfied indicating the physicaldocument should be destroyed; in response to the notification,retrieving the physical document to a first location; scanning in thefirst location the unique identifier on the label on the physicaldocument; in response to the first scan, providing a first prompt at thefirst location that verifies the physical document should be destroyed;scanning in a second location the unique identifier on the label on thephysical document; and in response to the second scan, providing asecond prompt at the second location that verifies the physical documentshould be destroyed.